Survivor's Guilt

[chaoticidealism]

For a person with a disability, I have been extraordinarily lucky. When I was without a home, a friend took me in. My school is extremely disability-friendly. I was accepted for SSI without even an appeal. Despite two years of misdiagnosis, the possibility that I had autism was taken seriously. Professors and advisors continually make exceptions

Comments

survivor's guilt

[anonymous]

yes, I feel the same way; knowing at the same time that everyone deserves the basic comforts in life.
What each of us can do -- even if it is in some small way -- is to be advocates for others who have not been as lucky in life.

Anyway, thanks for writing this. I was moved.

[ada_hoffmann]

I've been feeling similar, especially lately; though perhaps not to the same extent as you.

It may help to note that you are not eating a seven-course meal in the middle of a famine; you are eating a meal. Period. SSI and food stamps are not bastions of runaway privilege; they are basic provisions so that you can survive. The person eating the extravagant, seven-course meal is not you; the people eating extravagant, seven-course meals are NTs, and not just any NTs but NTs who have a large group of other privileges in addition to currently being able-bodied. Those people have their own set of privileges to check and potential sources of guilt to sort out. But those people are not you.

I know this sounds like passing the buck, but it's important. You are not in immediate danger of starvation or homelessness. This is a good thing! Living without these dangers is not an extravagance. It is not a seven-course meal. It is a basic human right and need.

Meanwhile, you are surviving, and this should be celebrated.

[chordatesrock]

Yeah.